White German shepherds - Page 3

I agree echo.. alot of people breed for popularity and what people want and dont have the german breed standard in mind. The whitebreeders have a battle they have been engaged in for years and some of the facts mentioned here are true and some are myths about some of the dogs coming out of kennels on the east coast I ve have had to learn about them because I have people ask every time i have a llitter " do u have any white gs. For a long time I bowed up like a cat but as Ive gotten a few things under my belt Ive learned to explain a few things to people. I have always wondered why my Pirol boy has 4 paws with white across the tip of all with black nails of course,?

I myself don't really care about the color. I would add that I have seen very few white's that I would want. But I have only seen a limited few. The remark about being careful about dogs bred for color is absolutely true. While color is important to use it as your main objective is setting yourself up to breed inferior dogs. Good luck in your search and keep us posted on what you find!

I would definetly have to disagree with a working line dog needing a "Job" or he would become destructive and possibly dangerous. I have a high drive female working line that lives in the house. She has obedience and has been trained in bite work. I was actually going to train her for police work but she attached herself to my boy. She is very content following him every where includeing while he is rideing his bike. She gets plenty of exercise but has no problem setleing down in the house. I can leave her in the house not caged and when I come home the house is the same as it was when I left. All dogs need obedience and boundaries set just like children. Unless you are talking a working dog that has extreme drive that are completely over the top, you would do just fine with a working lines. Mike

Sorry but I disagree. I have seen too many nice dogs put down or just left to rot in the backyard because the owners didn't know how to handle them. I may be in the minority here, but I much prefer working line GSD's go to working homes. Also, I don't think working lines have gone overboard at all. That is the type I have, but I take it very seriously. They are not meant for the average person. I guess I should have said high drive working dogs. I agree that there are middle of the road dogs which would be happy & thrive in a normal family environment.

The white shepherd has been officially recognized by the FCI as a separate breed, since late 2002. It is called the White Swiss Shepherd Dog. FCI Standard No. 347. For those interested, the standard is posted here: www.fci.be/uploaded_files/347a2002_en.doc Basis for accepting the whites as a separate breed by the FCI was that in the early years of the GSD there had been whites that contributed to the foundation of the breed. So who knows, the coated GSD may follow in these foot steps one day! Grandsire Greif of the GSD foundation sire Hektor Linksrhein - also called Horand von Grafrath, was white. A Horand son, Champion Hektor von Schwaben also came from a white line. Berno von der Seewiese, also a Horand progeny, born 1913, was the first white GSD registered with the SV. (source: http://www.hundezeitung.de/editorial/editorial65.html). As far as Max being bullied by the Nazies... probably. Anyone back then who was not? Threatened with concentration camp? Only if he was also politically opposed, which would have had little to do with the dogs. The camps did not really start til '33, Max passed on within a couple if years of that. But the Nazis wanting to control breeding only for beauty and not function is rather hard to believe. Especially considering how many GSDs were used for military service back then. There is a common misconception among SV folks still today that the whites lack working ability. Since they have been bred for colour the working ability certainly has taken a back seat over the years. And yes, the majority of the whites is probably more on the soft side, which these days may not be such a bad thing, in the light of dangerous dog laws. The white shepherd usually finds easier acceptance as a therapy and service and SAR dog, because they appear less menacing. A friend of mine in Germany is breeding whites. Several of their breeding dogs are titled up to SchH and several of their pups have gone into service homes. Pigmentation is awesome, super disposition, nice conformation, and quite usable dogs all round. Careful quality breeding and the results simply cannot be denied, regardless of breed and origin. The registries for the whites accept both stock hair and long coats (as long as it has undercoat), which is quite interesting, but needed so that the already limited base is not degraded further. As far as I know the breed clubs require health screening, BH and a breed survey before a dog can be bred. Quite sufficient for a companion breed these days. A well bred white shepherd is by no means a dog that needs to be dismissed. But these days it should be considered as a separate breed, even if the AKC does not treat it like that - yet.

Sue, But they have gone over the top, When the captain developed this breed, his purpose was a working... sheep herding dog that could work all day with his master then come home and be in the home with his family !!! This is the "ideal" German Shepherd Dog. Workinglines have gone over the top with the craze driven dogs that are destructive and must be kenneled or come home to destoyed house, That's BS that's not what these dogs were bred for, or were supposed to be bred for EVER !! Same goes for showlines, they bred strictly for confirmation and forgot about drive, and temperament. In my Opinion both directions have gone to extremes in both ways. It's pathetic that you have seen any dogs "destroyed" because of this over the top drive !!!! Yes owners are somewhat to blame, But aren't the breeders who are breeding these craze driven dogs to blame as well ??? What are they doing selling these kinds of dogs into pet homess ??? They know better, and if they see a problem they should do whatever it takes to retreive that dog back into they're program for it to be correctively placed and offer the Pet people a pup with much lower drive, They all have them, We all have high drive and low drive pups in every litter, I have never seen one breeder yet that will "proclaim" "all my dogs are super high over the top drive" If they were claiming that, I would call them Damn Lucky if that's what they were going for, But we all know how hard it is to find appropriate homes for these "over the top drive dogs" So tell me why would anyone want to breed for it ??????? Makes no sense to me, Yes breed good quality dogs, Excellent Health, Excellent Temperaments, Superior Confidence, CORRECT Structure, and so on, BUT BREEDING STRICTRLY FOR DRIVE IS JUST AS BAD IF NOT WORSE THAN BREEDING STRICTLY FOR CONFIRMATION. Again just my Opinion, :-)

any dog that had been 'out all day', doing a job like herding, would be an 'ideal' family companion after such work is done... Balance. Hard to find these days in a world that is asking for all sort of extremes. Problem dogs are those that have been made by everyone who has been involved, every step of the way. Could have starting with a poor pairing of the parents. Poor raising and socializing. Poor choice of puppy buyer by the breeder. Poor choice of puppy by the owner. Poor quality owner that does not fulfil the dogs needs. Who knows. Matching dog and owner is never easy. Dog has to go to the right home, regardless of drive. Lots of tiny cute lapdoggies meet untimely ends too for all sort of reasons, hardly because of excess drive. And many middle of the road dogs also are left to rot in their owners back yards, hardly because they cannot be handled by the owner, more because the owners no longer care. Why is this even being discussed here, when the topic was white sheps? *** Mike, that female definitely has a job :o).

Echo I agree with you. I have a low drive working line male that is super in the house and just a super pupster all the way around. And I agree with what you had to say about the breeder selling high drive pups to pet homes. I think the breeder should talk to people and not be so in love with the almighty dollar as most of them are. I know a lot of breeders that would not sell me a dog because I don't want one for titling--other than AKC obedience--they don't know I wouldn't have one of their over the top dogs anyway. The male that I have is yes a lower drive but he still would not be the right dog for a person who has never had a dog before much less a working line GSD. Because I have some dog sense I get the best out of him. Just some thoughts.

Echo, I agree with what DH said. The very high drive dogs still make fine house dogs & companions, providing they are worked properly during the day. they do take an incredible amount of work, but for those who are willing to put forth the effort there is a very satisfying result. You are right in that it is partly the breeders resposiblity to make sure these dogs go into experienced working homes. I think consumers also share resposibility & must be realistic as far as what kind of dog they can handle. I don't see too many working line breeders out for the all mighty buck. Most of those type of breeders want dogs that look like shepherds but act like poodles for mass appeal!

Oh & Max V Stephanitz bred from sheepherding dogs to make a working dog, not exclusive to sheepherding, hence the schutzhund breed test.